Dexter's Laboratory
Dexter's Laboratory is an American comic science fiction animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and is the first of the network's Cartoon Cartoons. The series follows Dexter, a boy-genius and inventor with a secret laboratory in the basement of his house, who constantly battles his sister Dee Dee in an attempt to keep her out of the lab. He also engages in a bitter rivalry with his neighbor and fellow-genius Mandark. The first two seasons contained additional segments: Dial M for Monkey, which focuses on Dexter's pet lab-monkey/superhero, and The Justice Friends, about a trio of superheroes who share an apartment. Tartakovsky pitched the series to Fred Seibert's first animated shorts showcase What a Cartoon! at Hanna-Barbera, basing it on student films he produced while attending the California Institute of the Arts. Two pilots aired on Cartoon Network from 1995 to 1996; viewer approval ratings convinced the network to order a half-hour series, which initially ran for 52 episodes from 1996 to 1998. In 1999, a television movie titled Ego Trip aired as the intended series finale, and Tartakovsky left to begin work on his new series, Samurai Jack. However, from 2001 to 2003, Cartoon Network revived the series for 26 more episodes, under Chris Savino and a different production team at Cartoon Network Studios. Dexter's Laboratory received widespread critical acclaim and high ratings, and became one of Cartoon Network's most popular and successful original series. During its run, the series won three Annie Awards, with nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Reel Awards, and nine additional Annie Awards. The series is notable for helping launch the careers of several animators, such as Craig McCracken, Seth MacFarlane, Butch Hartman, and Rob Renzetti. Spin-off media include comic books, DVD and VHS releases, music albums, collectible toys, and video games. Premise The series revolves around Dexter (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh in seasons 1–2, and the first 3 episodes of season 3; Candi Milo in season 3 episode 4–season 4), a bespectacled boy-genius who possesses a secret laboratory hidden behind a bookcase in his bedroom. The laboratory is filled with Dexter's inventions and can be accessed by speaking various passwords or by activating hidden switches on Dexter's bookshelf (e.g. pulling out a specific book). Though highly intelligent, Dexter often fails at what he has set out to do when he becomes overexcited and makes careless choices. Although he comes from a typical all-American family, Dexter speaks with a thick accent of indeterminate origin. Christine Cavanaugh described it as "an affectation, some kind of accent, we're not quite sure. A small Peter Lorre, but not. Perhaps he's Latino, perhaps he's French. He's a scientist; he knows he needs some kind of accent."Genndy Tartakovsky explained, "He considers himself a very serious scientist, and all well-known scientists have accents." Dexter manages to keep the lab a secret from his clueless Mom (voiced by Kath Soucie) and Dad (voiced by Jeff Bennett), who never take notice of it. However, he is frequently in conflict with his hyperactive, annoying, but good-hearted older sister, Dee Dee (voiced by Allison Moore in seasons 1 and 3; Kat Cressida in seasons 2 and 4). In spite of Dexter's advanced technology, Dee Dee eludes all manner of security, and once inside her brother's laboratory, she delights in playing haphazardly, often wreaking havoc with his inventions. Though seemingly dim-witted, Dee Dee often outsmarts her brother and even gives him helpful advice. For his part, Dexter, though annoyed by his intrusive sibling, feels a reluctant affection for her and will come to her defense if she is imperiled. Dexter's nemesis is another boy-genius from his school named Susan "Mandark" Astronomonov (voiced by Eddie Deezen). Just like Dexter, Mandark also has his own laboratory, but his schemes are generally evil and designed to gain power while downplaying or destroying Dexter's accomplishments. In the revival seasons, Mandark becomes significantly more evil, becoming Dexter's enemy rather than his rival and his laboratory changing from brightly-lit with rounded features to gothic-looking, industrial, and angular. Because Dexter's inventions are often better than his, Mandark tries to make up for this by stealing Dexter's plans. Mandark's weakness is his love for Dee Dee, though she ignores him and never returns his affections. Recurring segments Almost every episode of Dexter's Laboratory is divided into three different stories/segments, each one being approximately 8 minutes in length. Occasionally, the middle segment centered on characters from the Dexter's Laboratory universe other than Dexter and his family. Two of these segments were shown primarily during the first season: Dial M for Monkey and The Justice Friends. Dial M for Monkey was the middle segment for the first six episodes of season one, and The Justice Friends took its place for the rest of the season. Dial M for Monkey The Dial M for Monkey shorts feature Dexter's pet laboratory monkey named Monkey (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker), whom Dexter believes is an ordinary monkey and nothing more. However, Monkey secretly has superpowers and fights evil as the superhero Monkey. Monkey is joined by his partner Agent Honeydew (voiced by Kath Soucie) of Global Security, her director the Commander General (voiced by Robert Ridgely in Season 1, Earl Boen in Season 2), and a team of assembled superheroes. Dial M for Monkey was created by Genndy Tartakovsky, Craig McCracken, and Paul Rudish. The Justice Friends The Justice Friends consists of Major Glory (voiced by Rob Paulsen), Valhallen (voiced by Tom Kenny), and the Infraggable Krunk (voiced by Frank Welker), three superheroes who are all roommates living in an apartment complex called Muscular Arms. Most of the trio's adventures deal less with their lives as superheroes and more with their inability to get along as roommates; it is presented as a sitcom, including a laugh track. Genndy Tartakovsky's inspiration for The Justice Friends came from reading Marvel Comics when he was learning how to speak English.7 Tartakovsky stated in an interview with IGN that he was somewhat disappointed with how The Justice Friends''turned out, saying, "it could have been funnier and the characters could have been fleshed out more. Mini-segments Between the three main segments in seasons one and two are brief mini-segments, many of which feature only Dexter and Dee Dee. Other characters from the series may star in them also, such as "The Puppet Pals", two live-action puppets named Puppet Pal Mitch (Rob Paulsen) and Puppet Pal Clem (Tom Kenny). Production Development ''Dexter's Laboratory was inspired by one of Genndy Tartakovsky's drawings of a ballerina. After drawing Dee Dee's tall, thin shape, he decided to pair her with a short and blocky opposite, Dexter, inspired by Tartakovsky's older brother Alex. After enrolling at the California Institute of the Arts in 1990 to study animation, Tartakovsky wrote, directed, animated, and produced four short films that would become the basis for the series. Dexter's Laboratory was then made into a seven-minute pilot as a part of Cartoon Network's What a Cartoon! project, promoted as World Premiere Toons, which debuted on February 26, 1995. Viewers worldwide voted through phone lines, the Internet, focus groups, and consumer promotions for their favorite short cartoons; the first of 16 animated shorts to earn that vote of approval was Dexter's Laboratory. Mike Lazzo, then-head of programming for the network, said that it was his favorite of all the shorts, commenting "We all loved the humor in brother-versus-sister relationship". In August 1995, Turner ordered six half-hours of the series, which would include two cartoons around one spin-off segment titled Dial M for Monkey. Original run Dexter's Laboratory premiered as a half-hour series on TNT on April 27, 1996, and on April 28 on Cartoon Network and TBS Superstation The series, along with Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, Johnny Bravo, The Powerpuff Girls, and Courage the Cowardly Dog, became collectively known as Cartoon Cartoons, although the brand was eventually discontinued. A second season was ordered, and premiered on Cartoon Network on July 16, 1997. The series went on hiatus in 1998 after two seasons, with the second season lasting 39 episodes. The initial series finale was intended to be "Last But Not Beast", which differed from the format of the other episodes in that it was not a collection of cartoon shorts, but was a single 25-minute episode. In 1999, Tartakovsky returned to direct Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip, an hour-long television movie. This was the last Dexter's Laboratory production that Tartakovsky was involved with and was originally intended to be the conclusion to the series. The special was hand-animated, though the character and setting designs were subtly revised. The plot follows Dexter on a quest through time as he finds out his future triumphs. Revival After the series went on hiatus, Tartakovsky went on to work as a supervising producer on colleague Craig McCracken's series, The Powerpuff Girls, serving as a director for several episodes alongside McCracken, and the animation director and cinematographer for The Powerpuff Girls Movie. He subsequently began working on his new projects, Samurai Jack and Star Wars: Clone Wars. MacFarlane and Hartman had left Time Warner altogether at this point, focusing on Family Guy and The Fairly OddParents, respectively. On February 21, 2001, Cartoon Network announced Dexter's Laboratory had been revived for a 13-episode third season. The series was given a new production team at Cartoon Network Studios, with Chris Savinotaking over as the creative director in Tartakovsky's absence. Later in season four, Savino was also promoted to producer giving him further control over the show, such as the budget. The revival episodes featured revised visual designs and sound effects, recast voice actors, continuity shakeups, and the transition from traditional cel animation, which was used in the first two seasons and "Ego Trip", to digital ink and paint, which was used permanently beginning with the third-season premiere, entitled "Streaky Clean", which aired in 2001, when many other programs made the switchover to digital coloring. = Direction and writing = Directors and writers on the series included Tartakovsky, McCracken, Seth MacFarlane, Butch Hartman, Rob Renzetti, Paul Rudish, John McIntyre, and Chris Savino. = Casting = Christine Cavanaugh voiced Dexter for the first two seasons and early episodes of the third, but retired from voice acting in 2001 for personal reasons. She was replaced by Candi Milo. Allison Moore, a college friend of Tartakovsky, was cast as Dee Dee. She left the show after the first season because she was no longer interested in voice acting. The role was subsequently recast with Kat Cressida. In season three, Moore briefly returned as Dee Dee's voice before Cressida once again assumed the role for season four. = Animation = The series was animated in a stylized way, which Tartakovsky says was influenced by the Merrie Melodies cartoon The Dover Boys at Pimento University. Dexter's Laboratory, however, was staged in a cinematic way, rather than flat and close to the screen, to leave space and depth for the action and gags. Tartakovsky was also influenced by other Warner Bros. cartoons, Hanna-Barbera, Japanese mecha anime, and the UPA shorts. Tartakovsky has said the character Dexter was designed "as an icon"—his body is short and squat and his design is simple, with a black outline and relatively little detail. Since he knew that he was designing the show for television, he purposely limited the design to a certain degree, designing the nose and mouth, for instance, in a Hanna-Barbera style to animate easily.